Aerial-photograph map



D. L. BEHNCKE. AERIAL PHTOGRAPH MAP. APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1919.

Patented Au `impr-ED STATES ,PATENT OFFICE.

nAvIn I.. BEHNexE, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

` AERIAL-raorcenun MA1.

To all 'whom it may concer/n:

Be it known that I, DAVID L. BEHNCKE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Aerial-lhotograph Maps,of which the following is a `specification. y

The object of this invention is, primarily, to provide an .aerialphotograph map of a strip of country constituting an aerial route i fromplace to place with such information as will be useful and instructiveand of interest to the pilot of an airship traveling the route. y

it has been customary in the past to prepare road maps for use ofautomobilists and others to indicate the routes of travel from place toplace with such other information as will be useful in connection withsuch travel, but these 4maps cannot be used by air pilots, except toascertain'distances and directions, because travel in the air di'ers sogreatly from travel on the ground. For example, an air pilot must knowin traveling cross country where the good landing fields are located sothat he may know where a safe landing can be made and avail himselfthereof to replenish his supplies, to make repairs or for otherpurposes, and he should be advised about the desirable altitude oftravel, asto localities where peculiar air currents prevail, and as tomany other things which are desirable for safe travel in the air andwhich must be supplied to a pilot before making the trip. My inventionis also useful for indicating the right-ef-way of a railroad, the courseof a stream, a boundary line and other like information where aphotographic picture of a strip of country will disclose desirableinformation.

. I contemplate providing the map -in the form of a. continuous strip'mounted on ya supply reel and adapted to be wound therefrom onto atakeup reel in the course of the travel, and in the accompanyingdrawings illustrating o ne embodiment of lthe invention,

Figure i illustrates a section of the map; Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsectional view vshowing the map inclosed in a suitable cabinet; and

Fig. 3 shows a key tothe markings on the malp. 0

-eferring to the drawings, the map .is

Specification ofLetters Patent. Patented'Aug. 30, 1921.

l.Application led April 19,

1919. seal No. 291,262.

made by taking aerial photographs of definite sections of a route andcombining them 1n the` form of'a photographic strip to provide acontinuous photograph of the route.

tion although it' does not represent everything that a photograph wouldshow, such as fields, fences, trees, roads and other things which apilot should know. rlhe line The map section" of flight is indicated bythe straight line 4 extending lengthwise of the map and preferablylocated midway between its side edges. This line indicates the course inwhich the pilot should fly with reference to the cities and towns alongthe route. The names of the cities and towns preferably .appear on themap in association therewith and suitable markings are preferably usedto convey information useful to the pilot. For example, the triangularmark 5 may indicate where good repairs and supplies may be obtained andthe squarel mark 6 may indicate where poor repairs and supplies may beobtained. Additional marks may be employed as will be found desirable inpreparing a map of ,this description. The altitude line 7 indicates theheight at which the pilot should travel `and it is preferabl marked atintervals with figures indicating the altitude in feet so that the pilotwill know they different altitudes at which the best flying isobtainable at stated intervals along the route. lt is very important forthe pilot to know where the 'good landing fields are located and it isalso important for himto know, in case of'an emergency,

ings, roads, trees, fields, fences, etc., but thereY are' many things ofgreat importance in aerial travel which the pilot cannot readily so thatthe battery to the direction in which the pilot proposes to4 determineat flying altitude and as to which he should be advised for safe travel.For

example, a Held may appear to the pilot to 1 present a safe landingplace but in reality it may have a very dangerous slope or it may berough or rolling, soft or marshy, which would make landing unsafe.

At one side of the map I provide a plurality of compass dialrepresentations 11 spaced apart at suitable intervals and each providedwith a direction line `l2 indicating the direction which the Irpilotshould be traveling at that point with reference to magnetic north onhis compass. By steering his ship in accordance with the direction lines12 the pilot will have no diHiculty in holding to the line of Hight.

On one side edge of themap I mark the mileage in one direction and onthe other side edge the mileage in the other direction pilot will beconstantly advised of the distance he has traveled and of the distancehe has yet to'travel when going in either direction.

The map is made in a continuous strip 13, is mounted on reels 14suitably supported in the cabinet 15 and passes from one reel to theother over guide rolls 16 and between glass plates 17 and 18. The glassplate 17 is preferably removable from the cabinet so that a magnifyinglass may be substituted therefor if desire One of the reelsl/l is asupply reel and the other a take-up reel and they may be operated bycranks 19 and provided with ratchets and other parts common to suchdevices. The key to the markings on the map may be displayed on portions20 of the cabinet top at the ends of the glass plate 17, or elsewhereand an electric light 22 maybe located within the cabinet and sup liedwith current from a storage rnish light so that the map can be used atnight.

I also prefer to provide an additional strip 23 on the reels 14 of themap strip 13 with mileage marks on one edge corresponding to those onthe edge of the map strip indicating the mileage 1n travel. This stripmay be marked by the pilot or by others wlth any information which thepilot may desire 'for a particular trip. If it is desired that the pilotshall drop mail at a certain place this strip may be marked at a pointopposite that place, as indicated by the mileag This strip may bear timemarks indicating when a pilot should arrive at various places, and thepilot l may be provided with a time stamp to stamp this stri at saidplaces so that his time may be chec ed accordingly. The pilot mayutilize this strip for recording incidentsof l1 in order that access maybe had his trip and to the strip for tlils and other purposes the glassplate 17 wibe made-to cover only and at one side edge so that air pilotsmay supply themselves with maps in the principal clties or elsewhere toguide them in cross country travel over routes with which they are notfamiliar. The information provlded by the Imap is intended. to be suchas will be useful to a pilot lin such travels and particularly such asit is important he should have before him in case of an emergency. Themap will also be useful evento those pilots who are more or lessfamiliar with a route since it gives with certainty information whichthe pilot might desire at any time. The section of ma disclosed throughthe plate between the reels may cover a distance of greater or lesslength according to the Way in which the map is made but in any eventthe pilot will always have ample opportunity for turning the take-upreel so that he may keep himself fully advised of the conditions of theroute over which he is traveling.

While the invention is particularl useful for guiding air pilots intheir trave s it can also be used for many other purposes and I wouldtherefore have it understood that I do not intend to limit the inventionto any particular use or to the particular lay-out and arrangementherein shown and described.

I claim:

1. An aerial route Amap comprising, a 100.

scroll having thereon photographic reproductions of portions of theearths surface along a predetermined route, a Hight line extendinglongitudinally of the scroll and along the photographic reproductionsthereon, and an altitude line in cooperative relation with the Hightline.

2. An aerial route map comprising a scroll having thereon photographicreproductions of portions of the earths surface along a predeterminedroute, a Hight line extendm longitudinally of the scroll and along 51ephotographic reproductions thereon, a sinuous altltude line incoperative relation with the Hight line vand Hight altitude markings 'atintervals-a. jacent the altitude line. v

3. An aerial route map comprising a scroll having thereon photographicreproductions of portions of the earths surface along a pre'- 120determined route, aj Hight line extending longitudinally of the scrolland ,along the photographic reproductions thereon, y altitude markin incoperative relation with the Hight Ime; and landing 'markingswon the 125map and in geographic relation to the Hight 4. An aerial route mapcomprising a scroll having thereon hotographic reproductions4 ofportions o the earths surface 130 -along a predetermined route, a flightline extending longitudinally lof `the scroll and along the photographicreproductions there-l on, altitude markings in coperative relation withthe Hight line, and a record strip parallel with and independent of themap, the map and strip-,having registered markings. l

5. 'An aerial route map 'comprising a scroll having thereon photographiereproduetions of portions' of the earths surface along a predeterminedroute, -a Hight line` extending longitudinally of aie/smell:and#

along the photographic.reproductions therel on, altitude `markings incoperativej-rela-ltion with' the flight line, anda record strip.parallel with and independent of the map,

the map and strip' having registered 'dis'-A tanee scales.- y p e DAVIDL. BEHNGK- -Witnesseszl WM. BELT, M. KIDDIE.v

